The first morning in Togo we discovered we had acquired
another guide! We now had a guide for the guide for the driver. Jacques was
needed to show us the Creative Arts College and our way up the mountain to an
Eco-village. I wondered what Germaine’s role was….besides flirting uncontrollably
with Francis, the driver. At least they didn’t all try to sit on each others’
laps in the car. Already, Jeny, Gaynor and I were squashed in the back seat.
Jacques appeared to have his own moto, on which he performed gymnastics, until
it developed a puncture, as he led us for a few kilometres up the winding roads
through forest. This is the other side of the Volta Region Mountains.
We reached the Creative Arts College having made it clear
that we didn’t have any CFAs, (Communaute Financiere Africaine – currency used
by 8 French speaking West African countries), and needed to change some Ghana
Cedis. Having discovered there were items we wanted to buy, we processed back
into Kpalime to the ATM and bank. Of course, the ATM didn’t like our cards and
the Foreign Exchange was closed. Never mind someone knew a trader who would
change some cash for us and we followed him down the road and into a flip-flop
shop. Seriously, that is all he sold, watched over by large poster images of
Osama Bin Laden and Yasser Arafat. He changed Cedis and Sterling at a
reasonable rate and we left happily with well worn notes that all of our guides
recognised as genuine CFAs – (approximately 700 to the £, by the way). Back at
the college I was showing interest in buying a djembe (African drum) and
Jacques offered his assistance. I was treated to a different intricate solo
performance on each of the 6 djembe available before he pronounced one of them
as being the best. Naturally, I bought it, knowing it would never be played as
well as that again in its existence.
The waterfall was as beautiful as those on the Ghanaian side
of these mountains and we continued on to the Eco-village.
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| Kola Nuts |
Having enjoyed fresh
pineapple and calabashes of Tchoukoutou (Togo’s pito) we were ready for a short
walk to admire and learn about the variety of trees there. We saw coco, coffee,
kola nut, mustard nut, grapefruit and others all in small area of dense, lush
forest.
Many of the houses in this village had beautifully painted shutters and doors.
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